The "Necessity" of Baptism

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 NIV

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in [ Or through] Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NIV

“And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 NIV

Every time I think I have found the last error of teaching specific to my past, I just have to read a little further and dwell on exactly what is said and not said. In fact, I find myself ever more saddened with the fact we have not been silent where the bible is silent. The scriptures mentioned above bring great conflict to a belief I have been holding as fact since early in my childhood. Many of those in my heritage still can’t turn lose of the possibility for anyone being saved outside of baptism and yet the bible does not teach only the baptized (for the remission of sins) will be saved.

This concept has been a tremendous struggle in my life because the foundational belief of my heritage has been the necessity of baptism for salvation (it should have been Jesus and the cross). The very goal of many in my denomination has been to get the “lost” to the point of asking for baptism so they will be saved. Often, when this has been achieved in their life, we basically expect them to pick up the other “necessities” in bible class as they mature as a Christian. We then see ourselves as having successfully saved another precious soul from the fires of hell and move on to our next target.

Having been brought up in the same training as those who demand baptism for salvation, I fully expect every discussion of the challenges to this belief to almost immediately come to a statement about babies. No, I do not believe babies are born with sin in their life but I do believe they become sinners with their first sin.

I was taught babies and small children were “safe” in their relationship to God and did not need the “saving waters of baptism” until they reached the age of accountability or understood the implications of sin. In fact, faced with other denominations baptizing their children, I was taught the bible told us we needed to be aware of what was taking place in baptism for it to be valid. Oddly enough, the application of this principle to those old enough to understand but still in the same unknowledgeable position was not possible. They were simply lost because of the reality of sin in their lives.

If I use the process of proofs learned in geometry, then the statement in the bible of all having sinned placed with the statement declaring the wages of sin to be death, I have to believe all are faced with the sentence of death unless God intervenes with the blood of Jesus. I am not sure if the reader would agree, but this is what I see the bible teaching. If I place the teaching of the church of Christ in my past (many no longer teach baptism in the same way) stating only baptism will bring a person into contact with the saving blood of Jesus, I have to deal with those not baptized outside of scripture.

With the bible claiming all have sinned and the wage of sin being death, I have to leave the instruction of the bible and invent the method by which those, not knowing enough as children, can be saved. As stated previously, many believe children are not in a position of needing salvation because they exist in some sort of “safe” state before God. This position comes primarily from the statement by Jesus given above in Matthew 18. What seems easy to me is how Jesus does not say the child is free of sin which would contradict the declaration of all having sinned, but rather admonishes everyone to become like the child if they are to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The focus of my training in the church has been how entrance to the kingdom is based on being sin free and the only way to be free of sin is through baptism. If the admonition in Matthew 18 is not to be free of sin but to become like a child, then baptism is not the key and those having been baptized do not have an exclusive “ticket” to heaven. No, I do not believe we have Jesus giving us an exception to the need for baptism in children and to the thief on the cross, we don’t have to make the attempt of “timing” death so the thief can be forgiven only because Jesus had not died and created the “law” of salvation only in baptism taught by those of my heritage. Relying only on the bible, we have those who become like the child gaining entrance into heaven. I can accept those who were/are forgiven by Jesus as being those who become like the child.

While this belief has as much possibility of being wrong as the one I was taught as a child, I no longer have to make the bible say something it does not say to account for those exceptions demanded by my past belief. I can now accept anyone being accepted into heaven, recognized by God as having become like the child. I can accept the childlike purity of any sinner being possible regardless of educational level attained suddenly making them accountable to sin and condemning them without baptism.

If the bible teaches the necessity of baptism for salvation, then we must deal with what the bible does not teach.

1. The bible does not teach any exemption regardless of age or mental ability.
2. The bible does not teach “timing based” approach to when baptism is required.
3. The bible does not allow for any exceptions outside of our ability to understand.

I have been told by more than one person in my fellowship how someone having not heard the message of Jesus leading to understanding and baptism will be condemned not because they did not have the ability to understand but because of the sin in their life demanding the sentence of death. Using only the bible and this thinking process, the nine year-old child (pick your own age) is not condemned because of his/her inability to understand but rather because of the sin in their life.

Have all sinned? Are the wages of sin death? Where are the exceptions? Are our children safe or are their sins forgiven because they are like a child? If their sins are forgiven, why is baptism not necessary and why is baptism needed at a later point in their life? Ultimately, who am I to put God into a box where salvation is based exclusively on my understanding of God’s plan from the bible? God, the creator and author of everything will not be limited by the foolishness of my ability to understand. When He calls me home, things will be according to His design and not my understanding of His design.

Yes, I can accept salvation not being based on our ability to perform but rather Jesus on the cross.